Indiana Tech Law School

Despite disappointment over the decision to close the 139-year-old law school, leaders in the Indiana legal profession said they could not have done anything to change the outcome. Selecting students, hiring faculty, developing curriculum and maintaining finances are all internal workings of a law school.

The closing of 4-year-old Indiana Tech Law School in Fort Wayne, and the revelation that 138-year-old Valparaiso University Law School faced an uncertain future, made law school troubles the top legal news story of 2017, as determined by the staff of Indiana Lawyer. Changes on the federal and state bench also were among the year's top stories.

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After the Tennessee Commission of Higher Education rejected the transfer plans between Valparaiso Law School and Middle Tennessee State University, the northwest Indiana institution had no other options. Although the decision to close may not have surprised many, especially since the university had been upfront about the troubles the legal education program was having, it was still an emotional blow.

A few months before law schools around the country begin a new academic year, the number of people applying for admission has slipped, with the greatest decline coming from applicants posting the highest LSAT scores.

Waiting for graduation ceremonies to begin Saturday morning, Philip Davis summed up his place in the university’s history — at age 60, he is the oldest student who has ever graduated and ever will graduate from Indiana Tech Law School.